Chorley FC Ladies gear up for their FA Cup first round match on Sunday

CHORLEY FC Ladies have an eye on a cup run as they prepare to host Stockport County Ladies in the Women’s FA Cup first round.

The Magpies are without a win in four games but will be favourites to see off a County side who play a league below.

And Chorley midfielder Grace Vella admits the club are keen to progress as far as they can in the competition.

She said: “We’ve been working hard behind the scenes to make sure we put in a great performance this weekend.

“The FA Cup is a prestigious competition and we want to get as far as we can to test ourselves against opposition from higher leagues.

“Stockport are a strong team, they’re unbeaten so far this season so we can’t allow ourselves to get complacent.”

Chorley’s run in the cup has seen them win two home games in qualifying, beating Farsley Celtic 5-0 and Crewe Alexandra 2-1.

However, the Magpies’ good early-season form has hit a rough patch in recent weeks and they are without a win in their last four matches, having taken the lead twice but lost 3-2.

Magpies manager Andy Ramskill said after that defeat: “It was a disappointing result against a very resilient side.

“It’s a tough result to take when you lead the game twice and our own mistakes cost us.

“But we will dust ourselves down and learn from this. We will go again in the FA Cup against an in-form Stockport.”

County, who sit top of the North West Women’s Regional League, come in to the game full confidence with a 100 per cent record this season.

Stockport, who narrowly missed out on promotion last season after finishing second to Burnley, have had a comfortable journey to the first round, beating Warrington 4-1, Bishop Ladies 9-0 and Chesterfield 6-0.

Sunday’s tie takes place at Barnoldswick’s Silentnight Stadium due to Chorley’s men’s team facing on Doncaster at Victory Park in the FA Cup first round on the same day.

The ladies tie will kick off at 2pm on Sunday with admission £3 for adults and free for Under-16s.